Christmas Cookies
by Sherlocked95
Summary: Follow up to 'Albion' and previous. Prompt fill for icouldbereadingfanfic on tumblr who asked for: "I would love Merlin talks Arthur into cooking homemade christmas cookies with him, maybe for a party of Morgana's or something." So here it is; baking, flour flights and tooth rotting fluff.


"Merlin?"

He closes the door to Merlin's flat behind him; toes off his shoes and hangs up his coat before heading into the flat, looking for the dark haired man. He can hear noise from the tiny kitchen; clatters of pans, the noise of a spoon against a bowl, Merlin humming some pop song under his breath.

He pauses at the threshold of the kitchen, smiling at the sight of Merlin vigorously beating a spoon in a bowl of mixture. There's bowls, trays and ingredients all over the counters, crowding the small space, and Merlin himself is all over the place, looking flustered.

Arthur clears his throat. Merlin spins round, startled, before smiling in relief when he realises who it is.

"You," he points the spoon at Arthur.

Arthur raises his eyebrows. "Me?"

"No, the dalek in the living room, _yes_, you," Merlin grumbles. "I need your help."

Arthur can't help but grin at the tiny bite in Merlin's words; he's so rarely anything other than gentle that it's rather brilliant when he does get all fiery like this.

"What with?"

"Baking, genius," Merlin huffs. "I'm making homemade Christmas cookies."

There are trays of them already cooling, decorated like snowmen, snowflakes, gifts, Christmas trees and stars. They're brilliant and it's obvious from how meticulously decorated they are that Merlin's the artist. Arthur reaches for one, unable to resist how tempting they look, and Merlin slaps his hand sharply.

"You're aware that I'm awful at baking, right?"

"Very aware," Merlin answers with a wry smile. "I'm sure those cupcakes you made a few months back actually broke my tooth."

"It was an effort," Arthur points out sulkily. "I made an effort."

"You did," he agrees with an affectionate look. "And you can make an effort now. I can't make these all by myself."

Arthur sighs but relents, peeling off his hoodie and accepting the spare apron Merlin offers him. There's hardly any room in the tiny kitchen and they have to squeeze together to fit in. Still, there's a lot of knocked elbows and bumped hips as Arthur starts mixing another bowl of ingredients while Merlin slots a tray of cookies into the oven.

"What are these for anyway?"

"Your sister called and invited me to her Christmas party later."

Arthur looks at him, confused. "I invited you three weeks ago."

Merlin flushes red. "Yes, well, your sister called and _reminded_ me."

Arthur can't help but chuckle. Merlin does have a tendency to be incredibly forgetful. His boyfriend scowls at Arthur's amusement and dunks a teaspoon into the mixture, collecting a sizeable dollop before flicking it Arthur.

He looks down at the pale mixture on the apron, grateful that it didn't land on his most expensive silk shirt. Then he narrows his eyes playfully at Merlin and the dark haired man grins and raises his chin at the challenge.

Arthur scoops a handful of flour out of the packet and flings it at Merlin.

He gapes at him, stunned for a long moment, pale powder sticking to his eyelashes and marring his dark shirt, and then laughs loudly, reaching for the flour.

A massive flour fight ensues, both of them ducking and trying to escape it as much as possible in the tight space, and by the end of it they're both wheezing with laughter and covered head to toe in flour. Finally, Merlin holds his hands up in surrender, still chuckling, and Arthur relents, wrapping his arms around his partner's waist and trapping him against the counter.

There's flour sticking to Merlin's lips and Arthur reaches up, smearing it away with his thumb. Merlin's lips part in response, blue eyes staring straight into Arthur's and he gives in to temptation, leaning in to capture him in a kiss. Merlin hums in approval and grips his hips tight, pulling him closer, and Arthur deepens the kiss.

When they both pull apart, breathing heavily, Arthur grins at Merlin who beams back. Then he pushes at Arthur's chest, shaking his head.

"You'll have to pop down the shop and get some more flour now, you prat."

"You started it!" Arthur laughs.

"Lies and slander."

Arthur opens his mouth to continue the banter but Merlin presses a quick, sweet kiss to his lips, silencing him. Arthur smiles, deciding what he was going to say wasn't that important anyway, and pulls him in closer.

* * *

**I'm currently accepting prompts for this 'verse or anything else you'd like to see (I'm taking prompts for both Merlin and Teen Wolf) so if there's anything you'd like to see, feel free to leave a prompt in my askbox or just pop in and say hello :)**

**Tumblr: dontbeobviousmoriarty**


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